Windows 2000 pros, see how much demand there is for your skills, and find out what you can command for salaries and contract rates.

There still aren't many employers actively recruiting IT workers with Windows 2000 skills and training, according to dice.com, EarthWeb's online job board for IT professionals. At first glance that comes as a surprise, given the steadily building enthusiasm for Win2k and widespread adoption. However, since most companies aren't migrating to the new OS until the first or second quarter of 2001, it's probably still premature to expect to see large numbers of jobs that require these skills. But despite the fact that there aren't yet a great number of jobs for Win2k pros, wages are very high.

Windows 2000 professionals are offered an average salary of $82,000 per year, on par with the wages of pros experienced in Java and XML, two of the hottest skill types on the IT labor market. The overall average contract rate was $56 per hour. Of currently open positions, 58% are salaried and 42% are contractual, or paid by the hour. Of course, a lot depends on the your job type. Not surprisingly, managers and project leaders, who make an average $96,000 per year, are paid more than other workers in this category. The largest number of job openings, 21% of the total, are for network administrators. Salaries are highest in Silicon Valley, at an average of $98,000 per year. That area also has the highest concentration of Win2k jobs, with 21% of all openings. Other areas with a large concentration of open jobs are Los Angeles (19%), New York (14%), and San Francisco (11%).

Averages are based on 169 listings on dice.com, with cities and job types bearing fewer than 10 listings excluded from mention. Data came from available jobs listed during October 2000. Results are based on averages or totals from the following information: salary, job type, job skills, and location.

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Highest salary by city (average): Silicon Valley, $98,000 per year Most jobs per city: Silicon Valley, 21% of the total Highest salary by job type (average): Manager/Project leader, $96,000 per year Most jobs per job type: LAN/Network administrator, 21% of the total